Category: Sports

I’ve been following this morning’s Belgian Grand Prix via the BBC’s lap-by-lap reports on their website. I think I understand everything that happened, except for the Montoya-Pizzonia incident. Could someone who was watching the TV feed explain what happened? The BBC reported it thus:

Lap 42: Out of the blue, from second place, Montoya and Pizzonia clip one another – Pizzonia loses one of his front wheels, and Montoya ends up in the pit wall.

I know there were reports of drivers changing tyres throughout the race: was this simply a coming-together in the rain and mist? Anyway, congratulations to Kimi, and (I guess) to Alonso, who has almost clinched the title.

A nail-biting Italian Grand Prix… and once again it all came down to tyres. First we had the astonishing qualifying performance by Raikkonen: he had to change an engine, so he was penalized 10 places on the grid. To compensate, he opted for a one-stop strategy and filled his fuel tank to the brim – and he still got the fastest time in qualifying! Stunning. Next, Raikkonen fought all the way up to second place, only to have the left rear tyre fail; the pit stop dropped him to 12th, and he wound up 4th. Finally, Jan-Pablo Montoya, who had led the race from the pole, started to experience the same kind of tyre failure. It was hard to repress memories of Raikkonen’s last lap crash at the European Grand Prix, but Montoya had enough of a lead over Alonso that he was able to slow down* and hold on for the win.

Two interesting notes. First, there were no retirements from the race; Montoya reported that this caused real traffic problems for the leaders. And second, Michael Schumacher finished out of the points, in 10th place. This means that he’s mathematically eliminated from the race for the championship, even though there still are four more races in the season.

Next week is the Belgian Grand Prix from one of my favourite tracks, Spa. Unfortunately I’ll be at a hotel in Louisville, Colorado, and they don’t offer Speed TV on their cable system. So I’ll have to follow the race via the web.

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* Of course, “slow down” is relative: we’re talking about no more than 2 or 3 percent

Many of my American friends are mystified by cricket: not just the rules, but the very mechanics of the game. They assume that bowling is like pitching, and can’t seem to understand that in cricket one is dealing with movement in the air (as in pitching) and movement “off the pich”, generated when the spinning ball bounces. The BBC have put up a series of brief video masterclasses on various cricket techniques; the one called Learn the basics of leg-spin is particularly good. Recommended.

If British Airways wasn’t all screwed up… and if I could get a ticket for the match… I’d be sorely tempted to fly back to England tonight to watch tomorrow’s play in the Third Test match at Old Trafford. How often do you get to savour news like this? “Simon Jones and Ashley Giles took three wickets apiece as Australia closed in deep trouble 234 runs behind England.”

Watching the British Grand Prix this morning, I was trying to imagine what it would be like to spend nearly an hour and a half at an average speed of 135 MPH, at the limits of adhesion, with no opportunity to relax. Even pit stops don’t offer a break – witness the way that Fisichella threw away points in both the French and British Grands Prix by stalling in the pits. Anyway, Montoya executed flawlessly today to beat Alonso; Raikkonen was third, but only because he was moved 10 places down the grid because of an engine change. Without that, it would have been a McLaren 1-2.

As David Hobbs just reminded us, the British Grand Prix is perpetually under threat from the Formula One organizers. This makes no sense: for most teams it’s the “home race” (even the Renault team is based in England), and the event always attracts a huge, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic crowd.

And Michael Schumacher, who completely dominated the 2004 season? The only time the camera picked him out was to show how he was holding up Raikkonen’s progress towards the front. Other than that, he was curiously irrelevant, finishing 6th.

Molesworth channeling Raymond Baxter, as it were: “nobody in the crowd was really noticing a number of heated exchanges in the sand pits. we’re english, we don’t notice heated exchanges… out of the corner of my eye, I could see bernadette ecclescake and baxter moselyshoals striding into the maths room, waving their arms in the air and saying something about shoe shops”. Sorted.

Normally I would be posting my thoughts about the latest Formula 1 race: the U. S. Grand Prix, which was scheduled to be run today at Indianapolis. However since what actually happened does not deserve to be called a race, I don’t think I have anything more to say…..

Actually, I do have one thing to say:
“Earth to FIA: remember that the fans come first. Without an audience, you have nothing.”

[UPDATE] You can see here just what the Michelin problem was.

The story today is about tyres and gravel. It used to be the case that gravel traps were supposed to stop cars, quickly and safely, but in today’s race car after car was running off the track, through the gravel, keeping going, and able to drive back onto the track. Schumacher, Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa…. And the tyre problems for Raikkonen, Massa, and others were spectacular. First, watching a strip of rubber from Massa’s left front slice off the end-plate of the wing, and then just now, as I’m typing, Raikkonen’s crash at the start of the last lap, while he was leading; his flat-spotted right front tyre vibrated so much that his suspension finally failed.

My man DC wound up in 4th place (beating Michael Schumacher!) after leading at one point; he might have been 3rd if he hadn’t incurred a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Oh yes, the result. Alonso/Heidfeld/Barrichello.

GO REDS!!!! What a stunning performance by Liverpool tonight in the Champions League Final. 3-0 down to Milan at half-time, they looked crushed. Then in the second half they came back to make it 3-3 at full time. They survived several near misses during a goalless extra time, and won the penalty shoot-out 3-2 to win the title. Sheer determination. Congratulations!

(And now as the officials prepare for the medal ceremony, the Liverpool fans are singing “You’ll never walk alone”….)

Just finished watching the Monaco Grand Prix. Traditionally, this is a race where it’s almost impossible to overtake, because the streets are so narrow. Not this year – just ask Villeneuve, Alonso, Heidfeld, Webber, Schumacher…. Congratulations Raikkonen and McLaren (sponsored by Sun).
BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Live: Monaco Grand Prix
Lap 78: Raikkonen crosses the start-finish line for his last lap. And sure enough he cruises to a lights-to-flag victory.
Heidfeld snatches second, with Webber third – his first podium place.
One place back, Montoya tries to force his way past Alonso but he fails to make it count in the dying few hundred metres of the race. A thrilling finish to the Monaco Grand Prix.